For true stories that are so mind-blowingly ridiculous, that you could have sworn it was an Onion story.
"McDonald's of the future" opens -- with unlimited fries
"McDonald's of the future" opens -- with unlimited fries
McDonald's ( MCD) is taking a page from its more upscale rivals in trying to adapt to a changing competitive landscape. The world's largest restaurant chain is unveiling what it sees as its future, and it looks a lot like Panera ( PNRA).
cbsnews.com




This sounds so easy to exploit its hard to see it lasting more than a few months. I guess this is just a marketing ploy and when the unlimited fries are phased out we'll be stuck with a $10 Big Mac
They keep failing and reinventing and failing and reinventing and failing and reinventing ∞. It's like someone has a dart board of trends and throws blindly at it. Let's try to be like gas stations with kiosks. Sure, fuck it we can cut labor cost (old people are turned off). OK, let's emulate Burger King from the 90s. Right, that worked, didn't it? Let them customize their order. (No one wants to sit for 20 minutes in the drive through). Let's offer premium burgers. Yeah, that's the ticket. (People will pay more- at Wendy's). Next dart. Hey let's be like Red Robins without making the product better. Ok, that sounds great.
I think you nailed it. They have no strategy or forethought or creativity. Their corporate culture is barren and defficient and it shows in there bizzare assortment of product changes and gimmicks.
The franchise owners despise McDonald's' marketing and research teams. Actively hate them. The corporation can survive constant change whereas the franchises are having to retool and rebrand out of their profits. McDonald's used to be the gold standard. They research the requested spots of franchisees. They only rewarded the ones that were guaranteed to make money. Now there are three different franchises within 5 miles of me. One owns 1 run down one and others north of us. It's always busy. The newly redecorated Burger King across the parking lot is always empty. Another owns a run down one in each of the other two main towns around me. They have crappy Wendy's to compete with and do ok. Those three seem to spend as little money as possible on upkeep. A third owns a newly renovated one but has had to resort to hiring 15 year olds. No one wants to work for them. It's crazy. We can go 20 minutes to one owned by the guy who came up with the Big Mac. His are nicer with flat screen tvs, fireplaces and comfortable lounge seating. Unfortunately for him, he has to compete with Five Guys, Chipotle, newer Wendy's, Noodles and Company in an more upscale area. I don't feel sorry for franchisees but I understand their fustrations.